20 Movies You Didn’t Know Became TV Series

Just months after the most recent film in The Purge series bowed in theaters, everyone’s favorite franchise about the one night a year when all crime (including murder!) is legal is now a television show. The Purge debuted on USA Network earlier this week, with nine more episodes running through the fall.

Obviously, this is not the first film series — even an ongoing one that’s still a box-office hit — to transition from the big screen to the small one. It’s easy to rattle off the names of movies that became hit television shows, including a few that eclipsed their original popularity in a new medium, like The Odd Couple, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and MASH, which aired on CBS for 11 seasons (about seven years more than the actual Korean War it chronicled).

It remains to be seen whether The Purge is destined to remembered primarily as a film or TV series. But pondering its future got me wondering about all those TV shows based on movies that didn’t become the next MASH or Catfish or Fargo. That lead to this list, of 20 television series based on films that fizzled out in one season or less. (In a few cases, they didn’t get past the pilot stage.) You can read about and watch them all below. In most cases, it will be very clear why they got purged from the airwaves very quickly.

Bates Motel (1987) Based on Psycho (1960) Number of Episodes Produced: 1

Many years before the Bates Motel show that ran for five seasons on A&E, there was a previous attempt to create a series with that same title. But unlike the later version, which found success essentially creating a prequel to Psycho, the first concept was more of a spinoff, with a new character (who is also a psycho, played by Harold and Maude’s Bud Cort) inheriting the Bates Motel from Norman Bates and then reopening it to customers. The pilot never got picked up for series; instead it was repackaged as a one-off TV movie.

An animated Bill & Ted series, with stars Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, and George Carlin all voicing their film characters, managed to survive for two seasons on Saturday morning TV, but the live-action version that came next barely survived for a full year. The concept seems like it would be able to support an episodic iteration, with Bill and Ted hopping around to various points in history, but it’s tough for actors to assume such broad roles and not feel like they’re just doing an impression. Fun fact: The episode above was directed by David Nutter, who went on to win an Emmy for his work on Game of Thrones.

Clerks (1994) Based on Clerks (1995) Number of Episodes Produced: 1

You might know Clerks spawned an animated series and not realize it first got a live-action (albeit never-aired) spinoff. Snarky clerks in a convenience store should work as a multi-camera sitcom; you’ve got one central location and a potentially endless supply of customers and guest stars. Cheers in the Quick Stop! Broadcast television and its content restrictions, though, was a tough fit for Clerks. Even the animated Clerks, which ABC canceled after two episodes, fared better than this live-action version, made without Kevin Smith’s involvement or any of the film cast; it never aired at all, even with Jim Breuer in the role of Randal and future Felicity star Keri Russell as a Quick Stop customer.

Casablanca (1983) Based on Casablanca (1942) Number of Episodes Produced: 5

There have actually been two short-lived Casablanca TV shows. The first aired in 1955 and 1956, and had more of a Cold War spies vibe. The 1983 series, which only lasted five episodes, had an impressive cast. Claude Rains’ Captain Renault was played by Hector Elizondo, Sam the piano player at Rick’s Café Américain was played by Scatman Cruthers, and future Goodfellas star Ray Liota wound up in the role of Sacha the bartender. The movie ends with the famous line about the beginning of a beautiful friendship between Rick and Renault, but the series is actually a prequel, set a year before the events of the movie, which means there’s no Ilsa character. She hadn’t walked into Rick’s gin joint yet.

Coming to America (1989) Based on Coming to America (1988) Number of Episodes Produced: 1

How many times can a character come to America for the first time? Not many, it turns out! This pilot for a Coming to America series, with Tommy Davidson in the Eddie Murphy role, lasted just one pilot episode. He came to America, and then went away.

Dangerous Minds (1996) Based on Dangerous Minds (1995) Number of Episodes Produced: 17

Thanks to Coolio’s ever-present theme song “Gangsta’s Paradise,” Dangerous Minds became a cultural phenomenon in the summer of 1995. A TV spinoff ensued, with Annie Potts in the role of inner-city school teacher LouAnne Johnson instead of Michelle Pfeiffer. Potts walked through the valley of the shadow of death for an impressive (for this list anyway) 17 episodes.

Delta House (1979) Based on National Lampoon’s Animal House (1978) Number of Episodes Produced: 13

Like Clerks, the bawdy frat-house antics of Animal House were not ready for prime time broadcast television. Hungry for a hit, ABC gave it a shot anyway, and even recruited several members of the film’s cast, including John Vernon as Faber College’s mean Dean Wormer. John Belushi was otherwise occupied, of course, so they cast Josh Mostel (son of Zero Mostel!) as Bluto’s brother, Blotto. And speaking of Michelle Pfeiffer, she didn’t appear on Dangerous Minds’ TV spinoff, but she did have a small role on Delta House. Make sure you least watch the opening credits song. The lyrics are astonishingly literal.

Dirty Dancing (1988) Based on Dirty Dancing (1987) Number of Episodes Produced: 11

Rather than tell the next chapter of Baby and Johnny’s story, the Dirty Dancing show rehashed the previous one; with the couple meeting once again at a Catskills resort and slowly falling in love. The Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey parts were paid by Patrick Cassidy and Melora Hardin respectively, and a key difference was Baby’s family now ran the resort instead of simply attending as a guest.

Dumbo’s Circus (1985) Based on Dumbo (1941) Number of Episodes Produced: 115

I had zero memory of this show, which aired on the Disney Channel all through the ’80s and therefore most of my childhood — until I found a clip on YouTube. Suddenly the whole thing, a surprisingly not-creepy articulated puppet and costume show, came rushing back. The suits for Dumbo’s Circus were designed by Ken Forsse, who was also the creator of the original Teddy Ruxpin.

Fast Times (1986) Based on Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) Number of Episodes Produced: 7

Fast Times film director Amy Hecklering directed three of the seven episodes of her own TV spinoff, which did feature both Ray Walston and Vincent Schiavelli reprising their roles as teachers Mr. Hand and Mr. Vargas. The teenagers were all recast; some of the new actors would later became very famous. Melrose Place’s Courtney Thorne-Smith was Stacy (Jennifer Jason Leigh in the film) and Can’t Buy Me Love’s Patrick Dempsey played Mike “McDreamy” Damone (originally Robert Romanus).

The Karate Kid (1989) Based on The Karate Kid (1984) Number of Episodes Produced: 13

Winning local karate tournaments and beating up local bullies could have gotten stale as a show, so The Karate Kid animated series swapped the movie’s underdog formula for globe-trotting adventure, with Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi (voiced by neither Ralph Macchio nor Pat Morita) traveling the world on the hunt for a magical doodad. The Karate Kid would later find much more success on the internet; Cobra Kai, set decades after the films with the same cast of characters, has become YouTube’s first hit original series.

Lock, Stock... (2000) Based on Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) Number of Episodes Produced: 7

Guy Ritchie hasn’t worked very often in TV over the course of his career, but he did have a hand in creating Lock, Stock... a seven-part spinoff inspired by his feature directorial debut, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Each episode’s title was a different conclusion to the phrase from the film, like “...and Four Stolen Hooves” involving a pilfered racehorse, “...and One Big Bullock,” which featured a prize bull, and so on.

Logan’s Run (1977) Based on Logan’s Run (1976) Number of Episodes Produced: 14

Logan 5 and Jessica 6 went back on the run for 14 episodes of this CBS series inspired by the hit ’70s sci-fi film. To prolong the chase, Logan’s Run assumed a structure akin to a futuristic version of The Fugitive, with the heroes wandering a post-apocalyptic America in search of the “Sanctuary” and trying to stay ahead of Francis, a Sandman ordered to bring them back to justice.

Manchester Prep (2001) Based on Cruel Intentions Number of Episodes Produced: 1-ish

Cruel Intentions 2 is a bit like Mulholland Dr., only a lot sleazier and maybe a tiny bit less good. It was conceived and shot as a TV pilot for a show called Manchester Prep that would have followed the Cruel Intentions characters in the years leading up to the events of the first movie. Instead the show was canceled and the footage was repurposed as a DTV sequel. Today it’s probably best remembered as one of Amy Adams’ earliest roles. (She had the Sarah Michelle Gellar part.)

Police Academy: The Series (1997) Based on Police Academy (1984) Number of Episodes Produced: 26

The venerable Police Academy series was pretty much dead on the big-screen by the mid-’90s; the seventh and final film, Mission to Moscow, barely got a theatrical release. They’d already made an animated Academyabout a decade earlier, so it was time to try a live-action one. Michael Winslow’s walking sound effect machine, Sgt. Jones, showed up in half of the lone season’s episodes, and other Police Academy cast members popped up occasionally. (If you want to watch Tackleberry’s episode, that was #21. I wouldn’t advise it, though.)

Revenge of the Nerds (1991) Based on Revenge of the Nerds (1984) Number of Episodes Produced: 1

During the live-action teen comedy boom of the early ’90s, Louis, Gilber, Wormser, and Booger made the transition from film to TV, at least for one never-aired pilot. Incredibly, this may not be the low point of the Revenge of the Nerds franchise; a 2006 film remake was canceled two weeks into production, an almost unheard-of move by a major studio, and the whole project was scrapped and everyone was fired. Turns out you can get revenge on the nerds too.

Timecop (1997) Based on Timecop (1994) Number of Episodes Produced: 9

See, now this feels like an idea tailor-made for television; a police procedural with a time-travel twist. It was even produced by Mark Verheiden, who co-created the concept for Dark Horse Comics and co-wrote the film’s screenplay. For whatever reason, though, the show never really took off; only nine episodes out of the original 13 ordered aired on ABC. Who knew Jean-Claude Van Damme was such a massive draw? (The lead of the Timecop series was played by Ted King.)

From Wikipedia: “NBC did a television pilot based on the film in 1990. It aired in the summer with another dog pilot, Poochinski, under the banner, "Two Dog Night.” ’Nuff said. (Excuse me; ruff said.)

Uncle Buck (1990) Based on Uncle Buck (1989) Number of Episodes Produced: 22

Insofar as Uncle Buck, the story of an uncle named Buck, worked at all as a movie it was thanks to the charisma of its star, John Candy. A small-screen Buck without Candy was basically doomed to fail; the show replaced him with Kevin Meaney with predictable results. Uncle Buck director John Hughes’ work also inspired a short-lived Ferris Bueller series, but Weird Science wound up becoming a hit on USA Network for five seasons in the mid-’90s.

Working Girl (1990) Based on Working Girl (1988) Number of Episodes Produced: 12

Your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you; that’s a very young Sandra Bullock (with a fake Noo Yawk accent!) in the lead role of Tess McGill, the part originated by Melanie Griffith in Mike Nichols’ workplace comedy. (Your ears are slightly playing tricks on you; Working Girl’s classic theme, “Let the River Run,” was used for the show, but it’s not Carly Simon’s original recording.) The show didn’t pan out, but here’s a thought experiment for you: What if it had? What if Working Girl had run for 112 episodes instead of 12? Does Bullock still break out in Speed in 1994? Or does she get typecast as a sitcom comedienne for the rest of her career? It’s fun to consider what could have been.